News - CWB

Free-trade agreements with Peru and Colombia are crucial to maintain strong sales of western Canadian wheat and barley to these important markets, CWB president and CEO Ian White said, urging swift ratification by Parliament.

Colombia and Peru are vital markets for Canadian livestock, grain, and pulse producers and the Government of Canada is working hard to quickly pass and implement free trade agreements with both countries.

The CWB welcomes the Government of Canada’s efforts to begin free trade talks with Morocco, which are crucial to protect Prairie durum wheat exports worth hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

Forecasts from both the Province of Manitoba and the CWB’s weather and market analysis department anticipate flooding in spring, 2009, for the Red River Valley south of Winnipeg.

CWB president and CEO Ian White today responded to recent misleading public comments about losses caused by risk-management difficulties in last year’s volatile commodity market.

Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz issued a formal letter to the Canadian Wheat Board asking them to allow the Auditor General to conduct a full audit of all operations.

As world grain prices come down from the record breaking roller-coaster of the past year many people are asking: Is the boom over?

The Grain Growers of Canada (GGC) called for an independent review of risk management strategies at the Canadian Wheat Board.

Larry Hill, chair of the CWB’s farmer-controlled board of directors, released the following statement welcoming further review of the CWB’s risk management practices, following comments made by Gerry Ritz, the Minister responsible for the CWB, and Parliamentary Secretary David Anderson, questioning losses in the CWB’s 2007-08 Contingency Fund.

CWB directors will be reporting to farmers in a series of accountability meetings to be held in 20 communities across the Prairies in March.